Lies won eight Emmys in September, including outstanding limited series and acting honors for Kidman, Alexander Skarsgård and Laura Dern. Jean-Marc Vallée won the directing Emmy.

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Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman get honest about their show 'Big Little Lies,' an HBO series about a town that will do anything to maintain its perfect image.
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For Season 2, David E. Kelley (The Practice, Ally McBeal) will return to to write the scripts, which will be partially based on a story by Moriarty. Andrea Arnold (Red Road, Transparent) will take the directing reins from Vallée for all seven episodes.

Besides Witherspoon and Kidman, other first-season cast members are expected to return and contractual negotiations are under way. The Season 1 cast included: Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz, Adam Scott, James Tupper, Jeffrey Nordling and Iain Armitage.

Big Little Lies, which follows the lives of a group of women and their families in an affluent California coastal town, explores "the malignancy of lies, the durability of friendships, the fragility of marriage and … the vicious ferocity of sound parenting," according to HBO's description. "Relationships will fray, loyalties will erode … the potential for emotional and bodily injury shall loom."

Sep 17, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Nicole Kidman accepts the award for lead actress in a limited series or a movie for her role in Big Little Lies during the 69th Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY ORG XMIT: USATSI-363643 ORIG FILE ID: 20170917_sal_usa_6734.JPG(Photo11: Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY)

Witherspoon and Kidman expressed excitement about returning to Lies.

“I’m thrilled to be bringing back this talented team of artists,” Witherspoon said in a statement. “It gives us the opportunity to delve deeper into the lives of these intriguing and intricate Monterey families and bring more of their stories back to the audience who embraced and championed them. … Andrea’s unique storytelling style will be a welcome addition to the filmmaking team.”

Kidman said: "This is inspired by the overwhelming response by audiences around the world, conceived once again by Liane Moriarty, realized by David Kelley and now in the hands of visionary filmmaker Andrea Arnold. … I’m so grateful to have this opportunity to keep exploring these female characters and make this series with my friends.”

HBO programming president Casey Bloys credited Witherspoon and Kidman with bringing the project together for a second season.

“David Kelley wrote beautiful scripts and Reese and Nicole were, once again, a force to be reckoned with, reuniting the cast and recruiting the talented Andrea Arnold to direct," he said in a statement.